Potentilla recta L. is an invasive plant of concern within grasslands in western North America. To better understand the role of native plant communities and soil seed bank in P. recta invasion within grasslands, we conducted two greenhouse studies to examine (1) P. recta growth response when grown with and without fertilizer in established native plant communities of varying functional groups (grasses, forbs, grasses and forbs), and (2) the prevalence of P. recta and other species in the soil seed bank at varying soil depths (0 to 5 cm, 5 to 10 cm, 10 to 15 cm) of grasslands invaded by P. recta in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The growth response of P. recta did not differ between the native plant communities. However, P. recta above and belowground biomass declined as native plant aboveground biomass increased, suggesting a productive plant community may be important to suppress P. recta. Fertilizer did not affect the growth response of P. recta or native plants, suggesting nutrients may not have been a dominant limiting factor under greenhouse conditions. Nine species were identified in the soil seed bank. Seven were non-native, which included P. recta, and native species represented less than 2% of the seed bank. Of the average number of emerged non-native seedlings, over 20% were P. recta. Number of emerged P. recta seedlings was 69% lower at 10 to 15 cm compared to 0 to 5 cm soil depth, although the successful germination of P. recta at lower soil depths suggests viable P. recta seeds are persisting in the seed bank. Active revegetation may be an important strategy to mitigate P. recta reinvasion or secondary invasion by other invasive species from the soil seed bank.
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